(no subject)
Course I was epic. I managed to make myself sick a day or two before the course, and my cycle started just about then, but I was going on so much adrenaline that I didn't even notice anything except vague discomfort until I got back to the car on Sun afternoon.
We did four compass runs and nine location problems, had to bushwhack through all sorts of terrain (really gives "going off the beaten path" and "safety" a whole new meaning when you're crawling along a pile of skinny pines with a ten foot drop below you as part of an organized course), and just generally had a blast. For all that I hated Course B (because look, guys, standing around in the rain for hours on end while someone is lecturing you is not fun), I absolutely loved Course I.
Initially Pam and I were supposed to be a team of two, but we had another person assigned to us at the last minute. Sarah was really great, but because we were a three person team, it just took that much longer to get going each time. I was all for through going through the night so we would have the max time possible to finish Sunday's compass runs (and because I was afraid that if I stopped, my being sick would win over my adrenaline), but was voted down. We were then planning on getting up at four, but didn't end up hitting the trail until 7, which was mildly frustrating. But the dynamic was really good, and it was fascinating to watch how the team really did absorb the tiredness etc of the individuals. All of us sine waved between feeling great about ourselves and our progress and feeling pretty dismal about it, and it was great to be in a dynamic where it was normal to be going through all of that. I ended up falling into my default TL role (which still surprises me every time, because it takes some effort for me to get past my dislike of invading people's spaces at all, including by telling them what to do), but it worked out really well. My teammates were really great about both going along with my crazy math plans and about saying no. There were some interesting parallels between this and being the VC for BookFest in that on both occasions (assuming you're working with a motivated group of people), being a TL is 60% taking care of your team, and 40% pushing forward.
Overall, the people and the energy at ESAR are fantastic. It's the feeling that I've missed since elementary school of just getting along well with everybody there. And I think that had a lot to do with why our team passed. Very similar to my Ranger training, actually. Becoming a Ranger was very much a spur-of-the-moment thing for me, so I came to the training pretty thoroughly underprepared, with a bag made out of a hat that I sewed a piece of fabric on to for a strap. I didn't have notebook, and I had to borrow a pencil. I don't remember what I had for a water bottle, but I remember having to MacGyver that, too. But I really connected with the people (both rangers and participants), and the feedback that I got was to the effect of "well, you got off to a rocky start, but the way you handle people is awesome, and both of us immediately saw that you were a ranger."
My gear management for C1 was actually great, I thought (lessons learned, right?). But again I think my team ended up passing on charisma as much as anything else. We finished everything, were slightly off one of the compass runs, but had really great rapport with all of the course staff, and I think they just wanted us in their organization enough to overlook that error. I mean, how could they not want us? :) I'm probably the most famous person going through the training program after not being able to find my car keys after CB last month. But in all seriousness, we like them and they like us, and despite having been off by a little bit, we do know what we're doing, so I feel really great about that decision (though if we had to redo C1, I'd be ok with that too, I had so much fun doing it. I'll probably do it next year just for the hell of it).
Course II will be in two weeks (well, the first opportunity for it, anyway), and that one is going to be a lot more difficult (cover more ground, be out in the middle of nowhere, not have any of the staff around, etc). It sounds somewhat intimidating, but then I think I overestimated how difficult Course I was going to be, so maybe Course II won't be so bad. I feel like I was pretty well mentally prepared for C1, and that was important. I'll need to spend some time sitting and thinking through C2...
We did four compass runs and nine location problems, had to bushwhack through all sorts of terrain (really gives "going off the beaten path" and "safety" a whole new meaning when you're crawling along a pile of skinny pines with a ten foot drop below you as part of an organized course), and just generally had a blast. For all that I hated Course B (because look, guys, standing around in the rain for hours on end while someone is lecturing you is not fun), I absolutely loved Course I.
Initially Pam and I were supposed to be a team of two, but we had another person assigned to us at the last minute. Sarah was really great, but because we were a three person team, it just took that much longer to get going each time. I was all for through going through the night so we would have the max time possible to finish Sunday's compass runs (and because I was afraid that if I stopped, my being sick would win over my adrenaline), but was voted down. We were then planning on getting up at four, but didn't end up hitting the trail until 7, which was mildly frustrating. But the dynamic was really good, and it was fascinating to watch how the team really did absorb the tiredness etc of the individuals. All of us sine waved between feeling great about ourselves and our progress and feeling pretty dismal about it, and it was great to be in a dynamic where it was normal to be going through all of that. I ended up falling into my default TL role (which still surprises me every time, because it takes some effort for me to get past my dislike of invading people's spaces at all, including by telling them what to do), but it worked out really well. My teammates were really great about both going along with my crazy math plans and about saying no. There were some interesting parallels between this and being the VC for BookFest in that on both occasions (assuming you're working with a motivated group of people), being a TL is 60% taking care of your team, and 40% pushing forward.
Overall, the people and the energy at ESAR are fantastic. It's the feeling that I've missed since elementary school of just getting along well with everybody there. And I think that had a lot to do with why our team passed. Very similar to my Ranger training, actually. Becoming a Ranger was very much a spur-of-the-moment thing for me, so I came to the training pretty thoroughly underprepared, with a bag made out of a hat that I sewed a piece of fabric on to for a strap. I didn't have notebook, and I had to borrow a pencil. I don't remember what I had for a water bottle, but I remember having to MacGyver that, too. But I really connected with the people (both rangers and participants), and the feedback that I got was to the effect of "well, you got off to a rocky start, but the way you handle people is awesome, and both of us immediately saw that you were a ranger."
My gear management for C1 was actually great, I thought (lessons learned, right?). But again I think my team ended up passing on charisma as much as anything else. We finished everything, were slightly off one of the compass runs, but had really great rapport with all of the course staff, and I think they just wanted us in their organization enough to overlook that error. I mean, how could they not want us? :) I'm probably the most famous person going through the training program after not being able to find my car keys after CB last month. But in all seriousness, we like them and they like us, and despite having been off by a little bit, we do know what we're doing, so I feel really great about that decision (though if we had to redo C1, I'd be ok with that too, I had so much fun doing it. I'll probably do it next year just for the hell of it).
Course II will be in two weeks (well, the first opportunity for it, anyway), and that one is going to be a lot more difficult (cover more ground, be out in the middle of nowhere, not have any of the staff around, etc). It sounds somewhat intimidating, but then I think I overestimated how difficult Course I was going to be, so maybe Course II won't be so bad. I feel like I was pretty well mentally prepared for C1, and that was important. I'll need to spend some time sitting and thinking through C2...